The United States’ nonprofit sector roots are in the ancient traditions of philanthropy, charity, and voluntarism. Most cultures and religions put a lot of emphasis on the need of serving others. Voluntary actions in America are traceable to Roman, Greek, and Judeo-Christian thinking. The traditions of philanthropy, charity, and voluntarism have attained their elaborate expressions in the US. American’s have been participating in voluntary associations since 1835, whereby people came together to address both political and social objectives (Mendel, 2014). Sociologists on voluntary associations emphasize the importance of community influentials, elites, groups, and individuals for the nonprofits. In the early years, many nonprofit organizations provided services such as volunteer fire departments and schools.
Philanthropy and charity are words used interchangeably, although they refer to different types of giving. According to Worth (2019), charity is the type of giving intended to meet the current human needs or alleviate immediate human suffering. Examples of charitable acts include aiding victims affected by a natural disaster such as floods, drought, hurricane, landslides and feeding the homeless. Charitable activities such as offering gifts through the phone and emails days following natural disasters such as floods are often impulsive and emotionally driven. Therefore, platforms formed such as the 'GoFundMe ' website provides a way for people with similar motives to attend to the crucial needs of particular individuals' needs.
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In the imperfect world of today, both philanthropy and charity types of giving are necessary. According to Worth (2019), philanthropy tends to be a more rational and long-term investment in the society’s infrastructure. Examples of philanthropy acts include gifts offered to endow universities, build new hospitals as well as develop new charitable foundations that exist in perpetuity. Worth (2018) asserts that by meeting the goals of philanthropy, charity acts are unnecessary, as institutions well-equipped to meet any human need are operational. Currently, both philanthropy and charity types of giving are necessary and complement each other in society in meeting people's needs. Voluntarism is different from philanthropy. According to Worth (2018), volunteering involves more hands-on acts, while in philanthropy, people could give help with no or little involvement with the charitable organization and its beneficiaries.
Involvement in the charitable, philanthropy, and voluntarism acts helps reinforce norms, socialize individuals as well as establish social capital with interpersonal bonds of cooperation and trust. Additionally, they help to counteract isolation and loneliness among people living together. The nonprofit sector, which is rooted in philanthropy, charity, and voluntarism, performs functions such as accommodating diversity. The nonprofits cater to the needs of people with differing beliefs, values, and practices, which cannot be accommodated fully by the government, which is obligated to treat their citizens equally. The nonprofit organization provides people with freedom from bureaucracy (Worth, 2019). Nonprofit organizations are capable of attending to the new needs of people as they lack bureaucracy, which is one of the governments' characteristics.
Unlike the government, nonprofit organizations rooted in charitable, voluntarism, and philanthropy are highly attentive to the minority needs. According to Worth (2019), government priorities tend to be consistent with the majority of the voters’ needs. Therefore, in most cases, minority groups with little political power lack the political support for the programs that cater to their needs. Thus, nonprofits are established to listen to the minority groups' needs (Worth, 2019). More so, nonprofit organizations are capable of undertaking research and development for various social programs. These organizations can participate in high-risk programs, which government is incapable of taking part in with the public's money. Therefore, programs that are developed by nonprofits and have proven to be successful are later incorporated into large government efforts.
References
Mendel, S. (2014). A Field of its own. Stanford Social Innovation Review. 12(1), 61-62.
Worth, M. (2019). Nonprofit Management (5th ed., pp. 1-1140). Sage Publications.
